Disability Services Office Fall 2005 Newsletter 202 Sanford Hall Box 19 Phone: 218-755-3883/FAX: 218-755-3961 e-mail: Khagen@bemidjistate.edu The web address for Disability Services is: www.bemidjistate.edu/disabilities/index.html

Disability Talk

Faculty and staff ask me how many students we are serving this year or how is the work load going.  Those are easy questions to answer and sometimes I forget to look beyond the needs of the students we serve to other important issues.  This newsletter addresses the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Section 504-Subpart E, of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, two pieces of civil rights legislation addressing persons with disabilities on the national level.  Subpart E specifically addresses postsecondary education. 

Section 504 Subpart E requires that no “otherwise qualified” person with a disability shall be denied access to, or the benefits of, or be discriminated against by any program or activity provided by any institution receiving financial aid.  This is the mandate that led to the original development of Disability Services Offices across the country.  Further  it enables universities to make appropriate academic adjustments and reasonable modifications to policies and practices allowing students with disabilities to participate in the same programs as students without disabilities.  It also addresses auxiliary aids which may include taped texts, interpreters, or other effective methods of making orally delivered materials available to students with hearing impairments; readers in libraries for students with visual impairments; classroom equipment for use by students with manual impairments; or other similar devices or actions.

In 1992 the Americans with Disabilities Act went into effect.  Title II of the ADA mandates that state and local government entities and programs be made accessible to persons with disabilities, including transportation systems which must be made fully accessible to and usable by persons who are disabled.  Title III covers physical accessibility to programs and services.  This is the mandate for the availability of auxiliary aids and services for persons with disabilities.  It includes providing access to movies, videos, etc., and can be accomplished through the use of closed captioning, an interpreter, real time captioning or a script of the audio portion of the presentation.  All written communication produced by the institution or used in recruiting or academic programs must be available in formats other than print on request.  This includes but is not limited to school catalogues, admissions applications, school newspapers, and all communications produced by the publications office or by individual programs or departments.  All publications should have the publication tagline on them which indicates to the reader that the publication is available in alternate formats and who should be contacted for assistance in getting the format they need. 

Disability accommodations are based on the needs of each individual.  There is no magic list of accommodations based on the diagnosis itself, but rather on the impact of the condition on the individual.  Accommodations for an individual may change if the condition isn’t stable or if secondary conditions occur.  Faculty are given notification by the Disability Services Office identifying what accommodations are being requested.  Faculty are encouraged to refer students requesting accommodations to the Disability Services Office to establish documentation of their disability as required by law.  Faculty are discouraged from making accommodations on their own just at the student’s request.  A student is required by law to establish a file documenting their disability with the appropriate office (Disability Services at BSU), and accommodations are determined through that office.  Faculty providing accommodations at a student’s request run the risk of setting themselves up for discrimination issues with the rest of the students, especially in the case where the student does not set up a file as required.  In the past those who have not set up a file in the Disability Services Office don’t do so because they can’t establish that they have a disabling condition. 

Test Your Disability Knowledge

A few years ago the University of Mississippi developed a questionnaire for faculty and staff to assess their knowledge of disability as it directly relates to them.  The following questions are taken from their questionnaire as well as the correct answers.

Test your Disability Knowledge!  Answer the following questions True or False.  (The answers will be located later in this newsletter.)

_____1.  Faculty in higher education are required to provide a student with a disability accommodation even if the student does not request it.

_____2.  A faculty member who fails to provide an accommodation to a student with a documented disability may be held personally liable.

_____3.  An instructor who decides that a student with a documented learning disability does not need extended time on a test may choose not to give this accommodation.

_____4.  A student with a disability may ask for and expect accommodation in a classroom even though the student has not provided documentation that the disability exists.

_____5.  A qualified person with a disability meets the academic and technical standards required for admission or participation in a particular program or activity.

_____6.  Section 504 specifically mentions tape recording lectures as a means of assuring full participation in the classroom for students with disabilities.

_____7.  The name of the Disability Services Coordinator must be identified in recruiting materials such as application forms and school bulletins.

_____8.  A student with a disability is entitled to have more than one housing option presented if options exist for nondisabled students.

_____9.  A student with a speech disorder must be given an alternate assignment to presenting an oral report.

_____10.  The instructor must make course material on reserve in the library available in alternate formats for students with visual disabilities enrolled in the course.

_____11.  According to Section 504 and the ADA the institution may establish reasonable rules of behavior to maintain a safe and orderly educational environment.

 

Students with Disabilities Enrollment With the Disability Services Office Predominant Disability Served 03-04 04-05 Autistic  (Asperger’s Syndrome) 1 3 Blind/VI 8 6 Chemical Dependency 4 2 Deaf 1 3 Emotional Behavior Disorder 2 1 Hard of Hearing 6 2 Head Trauma 9 12 Learning Disability 116 106 Physical/Mobility Impaired 28 29 Psychological Impairment 105 108 Systemic 22 29 Language Disorder 2 2 Total # Served Each Year 304 303

Procedure for Testing Accommodations The faculty member or designee delivers the test to DSO prior to the testing time.  It is appreciated if faculty put the course name and student’s name on the exams before delivering them to the office. The student takes the test at the same time as other students unless indicated to faculty in advance.  The student is logged in at the time the exam is given.  All students are in a private testing room and books, cell phones, backpacks, etc. are left in the reception area with the test proctor unless faculty indicate notes or texts are allowed. When the student is finished the exam is collected and hand delivered to faculty.  Proctors are students who are not currently enrolled in the course or who do not plan to take it the next semester.  Readers read the test as written and are not allowed to answer questions about course material.  Scribes are to write only what is dictated to them.  Grammar and spelling are the responsibility of the student testing. Tests are taken at the same class time with the exception of night classes or back-to-back classes when extra time is required.

 

Intern at the Disability Services Office Fall Semester

I have enjoyed working at the Disability Services Office here at BSU. It has been a huge learning experience for me and I recommend anyone that is thinking about going into a helping profession to consider doing their internship at the Disability Services Office.     

Pam Burlingame

Answers to Disability Questions from Page 2.  Portions in bold indicate rulings by The Office for Civil Rights in various litigation.

1. F  The student is responsible to follow the process for documenting their disability with the appropriate university office. The process is self-identifying that they have a disability and providing documentation from an appropriate source to the Disability Services Office.  Once documentation is provided, appropriate accommodations are determined based on the documentation.  Finally, the student must request an accommodation from the Coordinator, Disability Services and faculty are notified of the requested and approved accommodations via the faculty notification letter.  In the case of Salvador V. Bell, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) ruled in favor of Roosevelt University because the student had not self-identified and requested the necessary accommodation.

2. T  Under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 students could only file a complaint against a federal agency to investigate a charge of discrimination.  Under ADA students may sue the institution if they believe they have been denied their right to equal access.  If an individual professor refuses to grant accommodations, the professor may be now be held personally liable.  In the case of Dinsmore v. University of California, a professor refused to allow extra time on a math test to a student with a learning disability whose documentation had clearly specified the need for that accommodation.  The Office for Disability Services and the university administration supported the student’s request.  The professor refused to allow the accommodation.  The Office of Civil Rights found that the institution violated Section 504 and ordered the institution to establish necessary procedures to ensure that no student would be denied accommodation for equal access.  The student filed a civil suit against the professor for abridgement of civil rights and the court accepted the case.  The case was settled out of court for an unspecified amount.  This case signaled that a faculty member could be held liable if his/her behavior denied a student necessary accommodation.

3. F  Extended time is a reasonable accommodation for a student with a disability whose documentation warrants that accommodation.  The university is required to ensure that the student is provided additional time to complete tests and/or coursework in order to provide an equal opportunity for that student.  In Dinsmore v. University of California the OCR ruled that the institution must insure that no single faculty member could deny extended time to a student with a documented need for this accommodation.

4. F  A student is required to provide the Coordinator, Disability Services with the necessary documentation from an appropriate expert that a disability exists.  This documentation should be current (within the last three years for most disabilities).  In Salvadore v. Bell, the OCR ruled that institution was under no obligation to provide accommodations for a student with a disability who fails to provide documentation of a disability.

5. T  A student with a disability must meet all of the academic and non-academic criteria for admission and continued enrollment in a school program.  The court’s interpretation of Section 504 does not require schools to lower their standards.  It requires schools to provide reasonable accommodations that afford an equal opportunity for students with disabilities. 

6. T  Section 504 specifically states that a postsecondary institution may not impose rules that prohibit the use of tape recorders in the classroom for students with disabilities. 

7. T  In the case of Ferris State University, the OCR found fault with the university application and school bulletin had failed to mention the identity of the Section 504 Coordinator (BSU’s equivalent position is the Coordinator, Disability Services).  In another case the University of New England was also cited for failure to indicate the name of the Disability Services Coordinator in recruiting materials.

8. T  Section 504 specifies that university housing be available in sufficient quantity and variety so options for living accommodations available for students with disabilities are comparable to that available to nondisabled students.

9. T  Under Section 504 the institution must operate their programs in such a way students with disabilities are not excluded on the basis of their disability.  The institution must make modifications to their academic requirements to ensure that they don’t have the effect of discriminating against a student solely on the basis of their disability.

10. T OCR  has provided a further interpretation of the requirements of Title II of the ADA.  It held that printed materials are communications and that postsecondary institutions must make these materials available to students with visual impairments in alternate formats.

11. T  The Western Michigan University case reinforced that an institution may establish reasonable rules of behavior to maintain a safe and orderly educational environment.  The university had decided to suspend a student who had engaged in behavior that had disrupted university activities and which was reasonably viewed as disturbing and threatening by students, faculty and staff.  The university had made it’s decision to suspend the student based on observations of the student and the opinion of psychiatric professionals that the student could not currently abide by the student conduct code.  The university made it clear to the student that she would be permitted to seek reenrollment when she provided medical documentation attesting to her emotional stability.  OCR upheld the decision of the university.

 

What are some diagnoses or conditions that aren’t documented disabilities (regardless of severity)? Current drug abuse. Pyromania Kleptomania Compulsive gambling. Most sexual behavior disorders not resulting from a physical impairment, including pedophilia,exhibitionism, and voyeurism. Environmental, cultural or economic disadvantages. Common personality traits like poor judgment or a quicktemper that do not come from a medically diagnosedmental or physiological disorder. Advanced age or other personal attributes such as havingred hair or being left handed. Obesity. Psychoactive substance abuse disorders caused bycurrent, illegal use of drugs.

What are some conditions that are documented disabilities depending on their severity and impact on an individual’s ability to function? Specific learning disabilities. Attention Deficit Disorder—with or without hyperactivity. Physical or mobility impairments. Hearing impairments. Deaf. Visual impairments. Blind. Traumatic Brain Injury. Asperger’s Syndrome or High Functioning Autism. Systemic Disabilities—ex. Diabetes, epilepsy, Tourettes syndrome, cancer, cardiac disease, AIDS, HIV positive status, etc. Psychiatric disabilities

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